General Question

Is it safe to water vegetables with water that has a dead animal in it?

We have a very slow well, so we water our garden from rain barrels. Something apparently crawled into one and drowned. I can’t get it out without emptying the barrel, which is full. The water smells horrible, but if it’s safe I don’t want to waste it. Thanks for helping!

22 Answers

I wouldn’t drink the water, but it’s probably safe to use on plants. In the old days, they used to bury dead livestock in the veg plots to feed the soil. Bury the old horse and then plant the corn and tomatoes on the top of it.

If you can guarantee that none of it splashes on vegetables that you plan to eat in the near future, it’s probably OK – I mean, what’s compost and humus but dead, decomposing organic matter? But if there’s a chance you might ever ingest it, no way.

Thanks for all the answers! Unfortunately, not a joke question. We had screening, but it floated off when the barrel overflowed one time, and I haven’t found it yet. I need to rig something new.

Water is scarce enough here that I don’t water ornamental plants – they either live or they don’t. I think I will just use it on things that I’m not eating directly – like on the tomatoes, but not the spinach – and wash the tomatoes carefully before eating them! And hopefully I’ll get it down to where I can clean it out soon (never wanted to run out of water before!).

@daytonamisticrip They’re not drinking the water, they just need to pour it on the soil around some plants. If the soil was sterile around the plants, the plants wouldn’t grow. Fish the carcass out as soon as you can and bury it to help fertilize your veggies even more. Nature is messy. If they’re really scared, boiling it in a pot outside and letting it cool seems a good suggestion.

UPDATE: Well, I chickened out and drained the rain barrel. No dead animal, just a lot of sludge from the roof. Not sure why it smelled so bad and foamed up – maybe bird poop? <sigh> So I wasted a lot of good water, but at least I can now take it to a car wash and wash it out and have water that doesn’t smell like sewage. And when I moved the barrel I was able to find the screen for the hole, so I will hopefully not have to wonder about this problem again!

Thanks again for all the input – I really appreciated everyone’s advice and opinions!